Peanut Butter Toffee Cookies

This is another of Alice Medrich’s terrific cookies in her Chewy, Gooey, Crispy, Crunchy cookie book that I’m so fond of. I made these at Christmastime, and loved them, though they are admittedly not the most usual cookie for holiday treats. All that aside, I’m very glad to have discovered this recipe, and my sons are very glad that I started buying toffee peanuts. With or without the cookies.

A small note: these cookies look picture-perfect out of the oven, but are quite prone to crumbling, especially when stacked. For best appearance, keep them stored in an airtight container, just one layer deep, if it actually comes to that!

In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, salt, baking soda, vanilla, and egg. Whisk until thoroughly blended. Add the flour and mix with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon just until evenly incorporated.

Cover the dough and refrigerate for an hour or two, or up to 2 days.

Position the racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven and preheat the oven to 325° F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Pour the chopped nuts into a shallow bowl. Scoop about 2 level teaspoons of dough for each cookie, shape into a 1-inch ball or a fat little log, and coat the top and sides heavily with the chopped nuts, pressing in any pieces that fall off so that there are no bald spots. Place 2 inches apart on the lined baking sheets. If you like, sprinkle each cookie with a very tiny pinch of crushed flaky sea salt.

Bake the cookies until they are lightly colored on top (and underneath), 15 to 18 minutes, rotating the sheets from top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. The cookies will seem very soft to the touch, but they will firm up as they cool. Set the baking sheets on a rack to cool completely. Cookies can be stored in an airtight container for at least 2 weeks.